This is a particularly interesting program by boppish guitarist
Mark Elf. The date starts out strong (with "Trickynometry" and "Dot Com Blues"), featuring a quintet that includes trumpeter
Nicholas Payton, and one regrets that
Payton is only on one of the remaining ten numbers. In addition to
Elf (who is in top form), the musicians include
Bobby LaVell on tenor (for the same three songs as
Payton), either
Christian McBride or
Neal Miner on bass and drummer
Yoron Israel.
Grady Tate and
Miles Griffith take a vocal apiece, but most tunes feature
Elf in a trio. The music is consistently excellent with other highlights including "Just In Time," "Milestones" and "Monk Like"; if only
Payton (who sounds pretty fiery in spots) had been persuaded to stick around for the other songs too. ~ Scott Yanow